Cage breaking with Woodelfs ?

[Cooper]

Hi Overdose,
you could get 4 assists if the cage is stretched.
I.e.

X_X
___
_X_
X_X

Are you actually allowed to use it in this case? I always thought they had to be really next to eachother ( like XX instead of X
X

W

[plasmoid]

Yes. I'm certain.
It has been clarified before.
The simple reasoning:

The skill uses the exact same words for 'attacker must be next to opponents' and 'opponents must be next to eachother'.

If diagonals were not allowed (in either situations) then NO blocks would be possible.
Cheers
Martin

[Ravage]

i think the confusion might come from the diagram specifically... i cant tell who opponents are, who an attacker is (if he's even pictured), etc... so using that as a frame of reference is really hard to tell what anyone's talking about

[Coach Alex]

But why should a wardancer have the strip ball skill? I'd go the sidestep/frenzy/tackle/mighty blow etc. route...

'Cause he can just leap into the cage, blitz the ball carrier and make him lose the ball. The odds are that the ball will end up on the ground or in the hands of one of your elves if they're close enough. You'll have the other team pretty much screwed up, if you don't manage to score that turn. It doesn't always work, but it's your best bet once the cage is formed ... and anyway, which play always work?

[OverDose]

^ I dunno, but in my opinion cage-breaking with a leaping wardancer is kinda an emergency tactic to me. I'd try to open it / stall their attack rather than do relentless heroic plays with my valuable wardancer. I've seen too much n00b coaches leaping like maniacs and trying to break the cage every turn.

That's my 2 cents, I've played with WE quite a lot and I do consider myself to be a good coach.

[Coach Alex]

^ I dunno, but in my opinion cage-breaking with a leaping wardancer is kinda an emergency tactic to me. I'd try to open it / stall their attack rather than do relentless heroic plays with my valuable wardancer. I've seen too much n00b coaches leaping like maniacs and trying to break the cage every turn.

That's my 2 cents, I've played with WE quite a lot and I do consider myself to be a good coach.

Well, with a can opener or with his leap skill, it's a good idea to use stripball anyway don't you think? (and yeah you're right, leaping in a cage is 1/3 chance of falling prone like a dumbass right in the middle of a cage and even if you land, after your blitz you're still stuck with lots of player around you)

[wesleytj]

Well, with a can opener or with his leap skill, it's a good idea to use stripball anyway don't you think? (and yeah you're right, leaping in a cage is 1/3 chance of falling prone like a dumbass right in the middle of a cage and even if you land, after your blitz you're still stuck with lots of player around you)

That's where sidestep is nice. you can be surrounded by a ton of guys, but after one of them hits you, you sidestep to behind him or whatever, totally out of the big mess.

[juck101]

ok the juck101 cage break method.... btw I do play this a lot with elf.
---------------------
A) Kick lineman - kicks to a place to prevent a cage!

B) Doh - they got it anyhow.

C) I set up wardancers + catcher 3 from LOS max to get a good run at
the cage if needed from 1st turn.

D) hmm consider timing. Most important aspect do you need to do it as its risky.

Stoping a cage with this method is fine, but imho scoring is the best way to stop any grind offense. The point for me is to gain advantage and not just to stop a cage. Ok begin turn!

E) Closest player to the cage does nothing - need him to pass later. Or possibly an extra AG player if also very close. Close I define as within 4 squares. Ideally the have dodge skill

F) vs standard 4man cage below.

X X
B
X X B=ball carrier

run a single player to the edge that has no guard - and engage between both players. That shuts down there defensive assist, and no dice needed.

G) Run another player to the edge you will splat the ball carrier if you get to knock him over, or push strip ball. Dont forget to zone both players to make sure they dont get a clean catch roll. Very important imho to capitalise on the hit. Mostly I find people dont do this bit and wonder why its so hard.

G) If you have used a reroll think twice! Move any spare players (if) to defend a failed attempt.

H) Move wardancer to cage - leap into in front of your zone cancelling player. Got to be a 1 dice hit or you are onto a loser. Reroll leap if failed - dont back its too late.

I) Blitz ball carrier. If you dont get a ball loose result reroll if you have the chance. You have just used 3 players to get into poor positions if it does not work. Ok push player - or better splat them inbetween two zoned men of cage.


E
X X
B
X W X
E


Before you follow up consider the point was to stop the cage. Best way is to extract the ball, so dont follow up as you risk catching it inside 4 players and being stuck with it!

The cage must be cancelled for the ball before as they can then chain drop it. Dont be surprised if you didnt do that to then spill the ball away! The cage is 4 men near ball before you even factor anything else. Hopefully the extra zone will result in a erratic but loose ball. My experience if I dont zone around the area the other side it will just multi scatter back into their hands.

J) Will now need the closest player to try and get the ball from whatever random place it ended up. Ideal situation is a man 2 sqaures from cage at the start of the turn, now has a ball close to his feet. This will need a dodge and some luck to cement the play.

Two choices now face you. If you have the perfect man upfield you may be a throw away from a scoring position. If you have used all your resources to zone cage, zone where ball headed, blitz, free up players, and pick up the ball you have to consider best other plan.

Normally I have also got an ideal throw in mind but if not just ground it near endzone. You are wood elf and should be faster than any cage team. If you are totally spent and just cant get the ball a zone is better than nothing.

-----------------
Thats it - my long checklist to rob a team of the ball. Need 4 players maybe 5 to give it a go and leap skill. Unless I end up with the ball I consider it a failure and so most of the time it wont be total satisfaction. Its high risk/ high reward but only works about 30% of the time I would guess.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for this nice reply juck101..
Helps me alot..

[DoubleSkulls]

Its high risk/ high reward but only works about 30% of the time I would guess.

Against a great many teams turning them over once in the course of a game is enough to ensure victory.

Of course the best defence against this sort of thing are invulnerable ball carriers - either because they are surrounded by guards or naturally have S4 or higher AND they have sure hands and ideally block and/or dodge too.

Best of all, just kill the lepers (;)) before they get a chance to spring

Longer term successful woodies seem to use much more blodge sidesteppers to frustrate and delay the cage giving them the opportunity to develop an opening rather than just pushing for the big turnover.

[juck101]

Longer term successful woodies seem to use much more blodge sidesteppers to frustrate and delay the cage giving them the opportunity to develop an opening rather than just pushing for the big turnover.

Yep totally agree. Very wise to just hang around and control the game via not letting a team do anything. Stop people from getting push backs that will help them - and you will have just ruined their tactics more than a cage jump could ever